Sequin beading tutorial with special guest blogger Maria

Feb 17, 2016

Woohoo! We’ve made it to Wednesday of the Blog Tour! We hope you’ve enjoyed all the amazing Lil Luxe Dresses you’ve seen and have been inspired by our tutorials to make your dress extra unique! Today we have special guest blogger Maria of Creative Needle and Threads showing you how to add sequins or beads to your dress for that little bit of sparkle. Maria is amazingly talented in so many ways from her photography to her sewing skills…she just amazes me every time. Maria’s garments are to die for so if you don’t already follow her blog or her Instagram – you should!! We know you’ll be inspired! We’re lucky to have her guest blogging with us today… Hello,

I’m here to show you my version of the recently released Lil Luxe dress pattern and to give you a mini tutorial on how to sew beads or sequins to any bodice. I love how this dress is so versatile. You can use this pattern to make a really fancy dress or a super cute casual dress. I was lucky enough to be one of the testers, before this pattern was released and I just love the professional finish you get with this pattern. If you don’t own it yet, this is your chance to purchase it now that is on sale!

For this dress, I used Kona cotton and I made a few slight modifications to make it more casual and unique. My daughter wanted me to make it with long sleeves and I wanted to make it with cap sleeves, so we decided to on the 3/4 sleeves. I couldn’t be happier with the result! Modifying the sleeves was super easy! I just lengthened the sleeve pattern piece to the desired length and cut the sleeve a tiny bit narrower toward the hem, so that it would be more fitted on her arm.

My daughter wanted her dress to be more “princess” like and apparently long dresses are for princesses so we went with the maxi length included in the pattern. I also added inseam pockets because they are a must have for my daughter. She loves to put toys and “treasures” in her pockets. The good thing is that they are completely invisible, because they blend with the side seam.

Today I’m going to give you a mini tutorial on how to add beading or sequins on a dress. So if you have been waiting to try this technique, here is your chance to learn!

How to add beading on any bodice:

1. Add lightweight stabilizer to the main bodice on the areas you have decided to embellish. I wanted to embellish around the neckline, so I cut a piece of lightweight stabilizer using the bodice pattern piece.

2. Sew the main and lining bodice pieces together as you normally would, by following the directions on the sewing pattern. If you’re embellishing around the neckline, leave the armholes and the bottom of the bodice unsewn, so you have space for hand sewing the beads on.

3. Insert your needle through the wrong side of the bodice main (where the stabilizer is adhered) and insert a sequin. Pull your needle and thread all the way, but gently hold the sequin in place with your other side. Next, insert a small bead on the needle and push your needle through the middle hole of the sequin. The small bead will hold your sequin in place. Repeat these steps until you have completed your design. Add as many or as few sequins as you want, you decide how you want it to look. Just remember to have fun!

4. Once you have finished sewing your sequins, finish sewing the bodice and attach the sleeves (if applicable) according to the instruction on the pattern.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and give it a try sometime. Here are some pictures of our finished Lil Luxe Maxi Dress.